Tag: Ray Otus

Anyone know how I get an invite to the Dungeon World discord server?

Again…

Originally shared by Ray Otus

[Reposted with better graphic] WHY oh why I am I thinking about this again? So … some people want to mess with the dice in Dungeon World/PbtA games so that there is no +1 or –1 but rather a D&D 5e style advantage and disadvantage. I get why. I was thinking today about different ways to do it and how much they warped the percentages. Here’s my findings.

Variations Compared

d4/d6 method = roll d6+d4 when disadvantaged, d6+d8 when advantaged

+/- method = this is the ‘control’ group: 2d6-1, 2d6, 2d6+1

low/high method = this is the popular one, roll 3d6 and remove the highest when disadvantaged or remove the lowest when advantaged

doubles method = roll 2d6, when disadvantaged count high doubles (44,55,66) as a 6; when disadvantaged count low doubles (11,22,33) as 7

So which is the best method? Well, taste varies of course. I’m most interested in methods that produce curves close to the +/- method. To me it looks like the d4/d6 method is a good one. Which is nice because there is already a precedent (e.g. barbarian appetites move). The doubles method is good too, but too weird.

Anyway. I don’t actually think I would ever change this, but here ya go.

HELP! In writing Plundergrounds 4 I realize I want a character that throws bombs – exploding/flammable alchemical potions. Is there a (free) playbook or compendium class out there somewhere that is suitable? I would like it to be free because I would like to reference it from the zine and I don’t want to make people buy stuff (in addition to my zine). But I’ll take “cheap” ($2-3) playbook suggestions, but ONLY if you personally have played/tested it and recommend it.

A common trend in new PbtA designs is to use an Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic (as seen in D&D 5e) over additive/subtractive modifiers. Here is what that would do to Dungeon World, mathematically speaking. [Edit: The chart represents your chance to get a 7+, 10+, or 12+. Sorry. I should have made that clear.]

Originally shared by Ray Otus

What happens when you replace +1 with an “advantage” roll in PbtA games?

Then answer is that you are about 8% more likely to hit a 7 or 10 than you were with just a +1. However, you are 1% less likely to hit 12.

[Math courtesy of AnyDice.com. “Advantage” means rolling 3d6 and taking the two best numbers.]